Echoes of Time
by Cheri-sama
Summary: And in the final hours, the ropes of fate bind tightly, those meant to stay together. [KenrenTenpou]. Character deaths.


**Echos of Time**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki, and I tried for a middle ground on this fic... I did... I just don't seem to have one between porn and death. .._

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Gojun stood outside the cell, his lips tight in anger. They had been caught of course. He had known they would. Despite his dislike for General Kenren, he bore the man no real ill will. And he would have never wished any harm upon Field Marshal Tenpou.

He stood silently as he watched them sleep. Although he came bearing news, he didn't want to wake them. They had both been beaten and tortured for information, but at least they were alive. For now anyway. The council had yet to decide what to do with them, but if the Jade Emperor had his way, they would share Konzen's fate.

As he watched over them, he sighedHe had known upon meeting him that General Kenren was going to be trouble; he just hadn't expected it to be of this magnitude, nor that it would rock Heaven to its foundations.

People were paying attention now. The things that Kenren and Tenpou had brought to light were not going to just disappear, even if both men were killed. Things could no longer be swept under rugs or kept in dark corners, and Li Touten was furious.

When Gojun had suggested that it was pointless to kill the three men and Goku, he had been met with **a** wide-eyed fury that had forced him from the room for fear of his own life. As a result of that plea, Konzen was now dead and Goku had been imprisoned.

That was the last thing he wanted to tell these two; that they were all who remained, the only two, the ones that all of Heaven now despised** -** with the exception of himself, and perhaps Nataku.

Something must have permeated the pain-riddled sleep of the two men locked in the cell, because they stirred slightly Tenpou opened his eyes first to regard the somber-faced man that stood before them.

Kenren took one look at his blank expression, and anger twisted his features. "They've done something to Konzen and the monkey, haven't they?" He snarled, pulling away from the wall where he was shackled with such force that he was jerked backward and slammed into the unfeeling stone.

It was the lack of reply from the Dragon King that clinched the feeling Kenren had. He started yelling obscenities at Gojun, pulling at his shackles and straining forward, as if he could free himself by willpower alone.

In contrast, Tenpou did nothing. He made no attempts to calm his lover, or to speak to Gojun. He knew that nothing he said would bring reason or calmness to Kenren, and that anything he said to the white-haired soldier would bring answers he did not want – and was not ready – to hear.

After several minutes, Kenren had yelled himself raw, and tears were uncharacteristically pouring from his eyes. He had stopped pulling at his restraints and sat slumped, his body seeming smaller and more deflated than Gojun had ever seen him. As much as he had never agreed with anything the dark-haired man had said or done, it was hard to see him like this, broken and waiting for the inevitable.

Tenpou finally spoke, the need to know winning out over not wanting to. "What happened?"

"I tried to get Li Touten to spare your lives. Instead I had the opposite effect."

Kenren looked up at those words. Gone was Gojun's blank mask, in its place was a look of nausea and self-loathing.

"Konzen… he was… they put him in front of the firing squad." The Dragon averted his eyes from the two soldiers as they inhaled sharply. "Goku had already been imprisoned deep within a mountain. They were taking no chances of his limiter breaking again."

Tenpou turned to look at his lover. His General. His everything.

Kenren met his eyes. Reflected in them was everything that was going through the Marshal's head: They were going to die. Konzen was dead; Goku was gone, locked up who**-**knows**-**where. And they were going to die.

Kenren was usually the optimistand Tenpou the pessimist. Right now though, they were both realists. Nothing was going to save their lives. There would be no miracle. Nobody would spring out of the woodwork and whisk them away someplace safe. Gojun had tried and it had cost him dearly.

"I'm sorry."

Both prisoners turned their heads as one to stare at the other man. His face was once more composed, but his eyes were sad.

Tenpou managed to call up a small smile.

Kenren just nodded slightly.

They understood. After all, he had tried to warn them. Treason was not taken lightly in Heaven. Everything they had done would be for naught, and they would be severely punished for it. The only consolation was that Heaven would soon not forget the four of them. Their names would be whispered in these halls long after their presence in them was eradicated.

Gojun left the jailhouse as silently as he had arrived, leaving the two men alone together in their final hours. Had he the ability, he would have removed their shackles, but after his plea for their lives, Li Touten had demanded that no one but he were tohave keys to their cell or chains.

As it was, if they stretched just so, Kenren and Tenpou could sit with their sides pressed together; and that contact was enough for them.

"When we die--"

"Don't say that."

"You know it's going to happen, now let me finish…" Tenpou said, "When we die, we will be reborn, down there. I'll find you. I promise. No matter how many lives it takes, or how many years. I'll be by your side eventually. Wait for meokay?"

"Don't ask stupid questions." Kenren said sulkily, affronted at the thought that his lover would question his devotion. After all, he was willing to die for the man** -** why the hell wouldn't he be willing to wait however many years it might take for them to meet up again

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The day of their execution dawned brightly, as always. No rain, no clouds. In contrast, it was storming down below; as if the clouds above Earth were in outrage that Heaven was not in mourning. 

Kenren and Tenpou were led out to the execution field in chains. They reeled in shock when they saw that Gojun as well was being led out by Li Touten himself.

The three of them were chained to their posts, and the Jade Emperor drew himself up to speak.

"Today we have three men, three _soldiers_; soldiers who instead of protecting our fine Heaven, have attempted to desecrate it with lies." This last word was hissed out with such venom that the crowd surrounding them almost recoiled visibly.

Tuning out the pompous man, Kenren turned to the Dragon King beside him.

"Psst… pssssst… Yo… Commander…" He whispered, trying to catch the pale man's attention, and not that of the guards.

Gojun's eyes turned to look at Kenren, but he didn't reply.

"What the hell happened? Why's His Assholiness bumping you off too? And why the hell isn't anyone doing anything about it?"

"Kenren! Shhh…" Tenpou admonished the General as quietly as he could. Kenren's voice had rose towards the end of his questioning, nearly catching the attention of their keepers.

"I put in one last effort to save your idiotic hides… and the next thing I know, the Emperor is bellowing that I, too, am a traitor, and must die along side you." These words were said calmly, but even Tenpou could feel the rage that boiled beneath the normally calm man's exterior. Rage, not at being lumped together with Kenren and Tenpou, but at the fact that Li Touten had all but succeeded in making a dictatorship of Heaven and nothing was being done about it.

Kenren muttered something less than complimentary about the Li Touten's mother under his breath.

The men on either side of him couldn't help but choke on their laughter. After all, things couldn't get any worse. If there was a more inappropriate time to be laughing, none of them knew when it was.

A ripple of noise spread through the crowd as the three men eventually stopped trying to hide their laughter. All-out guffaws spilled forth, and even the Jade Emperor's speech ground to a halt at the sounds.

His face flushed red, then purple with rage as he saw the three chained soldiers laughing hysterically over who-knew-what.

"ENOUGH!" He screamed, but they couldn't stop. Even though they no longer knew why they were laughing, and that death was at hand, sounds of their mirth filled the air, only to stop when the sound of gunfire replaced it.

Breathing heavily, Li Touten stared at the now soundless bodies. Blood leaked from the numerous bullet holes that riddled their flesh. And though their voices had been taken from them, the man could not help but think that he still heard their mocking laughter ringing in his ears.

After all, how was he to know that 500 years later they would reunite? Theirconnection so completely tangled in the strings of fate, they would never be apart, even when they were.

**:END:**


End file.
